STAND with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka
One grew up in Alaska; the other grew up abroad. One is a Daughter of the American Revolution and a descendant of generations of American veterans; the other, the son of an African immigrant and a descendant of Congolese chieftains. One was a government watchdog; the other, a civil rights activist. Both had parents who were homeless for a while, and both graduated from Harvard Law School.
Like you, they have suffered devastating loss and faced overwhelming challenges. Through it all, they’ve found victory over the hardships of life simply by choosing to Stand. Join Kelly, Niki, and their inspiring guests as they move beyond simply talking about issues and challenges, to exploring how to solve and overcome them. Together, we will build a movement of everyday Americans who courageously take a stand for freedom, truth, and a country led by “We the People.”
STAND with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka
Next Gen Trailblazers
What drives young adults to challenge the status quo and stand firm in their beliefs? Our latest episode of Stand brings you face-to-face with the raw courage of today's youth. Join me, Kelly Chewbacca, and co-host Josiah Chewbacca as we introduce Landon Gatliff, Sarah Price, and Reagan Hurley—three remarkable individuals making waves in their communities. Hear Landon's inspiring story of questioning the scientific consensus on the age of the Earth with a heart full of love, and Sarah's relentless pursuit for student well-being during the 2020 school closures. Their tales of bravery and conviction remind us that courage knows no age.
But standing up for one’s beliefs isn’t always met with applause. After a thought-provoking interview with Mr. Prager, we delve into the professional and personal challenges that come with voicing controversial viewpoints. The significance of unwavering conviction, even in the smallest matters, becomes clear as we reflect on these experiences. This episode is a powerful celebration of steadfastness and the impact young voices can have when they refuse to be silenced. Get ready to be inspired by the boldness and resilience of those who dare to stand firm.
Subscribe to never miss an episode of STAND:
YouTube
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
STAND's website: • StandShow.org
Follow Kelly Tshibaka on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KellyForAlaska
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellyForAlaska
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyforalaska/
Welcome to Stand, your weekly audio adrenaline supplement. I'm Kelly Chewbacca, your host, former candidate for US Senate in Alaska and a government watchdog, and I'm joined today by my awesome co-host, josiah Chewbacca. My son, a almost to be high school graduate and heading off to college Way to rock it. So excited to have you with us. We are at stanshoworg. That's where you can watch all of our amazing episodes. Catch us on social media and become one of our awesome standouts. We'd love to have you hit, subscribe and join us so that you can help us make courage contagious.
Speaker 1:Speaking of making courage contagious, I've been thinking about how standing up for what you believe and being courageous isn't just reserved for people who have reached maturity. I know Well, I see, how you take a stand regularly and do courageous things, and that made me think that there are other people like you across our state and our country. Yes, while I think you are exceptional, you are not the last Jedi. I know and I know, so I thought it would be awesome for us to have on today other people who are young adults taking a courageous stand for what they believe. We've had young adults taking a courageous stand for what they believe. We've had young adults through history do that. You know, like Alexander Hamilton and Joan of Arc, and the list goes on and on. Malala is kind of current generation person and so, with that in mind, I'm pleased to have this show full of young adults across the country who are doing amazing things and taking a stand.
Speaker 1:We've got Landon Gatliff, sarah Price and Reagan Hurley. Landon is an entrepreneur in Arkansas, self-described common sense conservative. We're happy to have him with us. Sarah Price formerly served as the youth representative on the Anchorage, alaska Municipal Assembly and she also served for the mayor on the Youth Advisory Commission. Then she went off to the mayor on the Youth Advisory Commission, then she went off to the Air Force Academy. Reagan currently attends Texas A&M University gig him, and is a political science major where he serves as an officer for the political science Aggies.
Speaker 1:All three of these amazing young adults are proud to be dedicated Jesus followers. They've shown courage, remain steadfast in their convictions and for what they believe, and I'm so excited to talk with all of you today about your experiences, standing for your convictions and for your faith. So welcome Landon, sarah and Reagan. We're so excited to have you all on stand. All right, let's jump in. You guys can unmute your microphones. I know it's hard to decide who's going to talk first because all of you are with us at the same time, but if you could jump in and we want to hear a little bit for telling us about a time that you had to stand for what you believed in. And, landon, let's start with you. I know you've had a lot of experiences in Arkansas.
Speaker 3:Can you share with us about a time you've had to stand for what you believe in, and when that was hard, absolutely so. One of the times that I had to stand up was in my science class. So we were on the topic of the Big Bang and talking about evolutionary science and the word billions of billions of billions of years got dropped. So me and my science teacher entered into a discussion and I asked her her okay, how old do you think the Earth is? She said that she believes that it is billions and billions of years old. I told her I do not believe in this. I have a biblical footprint that I believe in.
Speaker 3:So if you were to think about it in the bubble terms, earth is only 6,000 to 7,000 years old old, and this is what I believe. So you can look at the genealogical records and pinpoint how old this. There are some christians who try to fit billions of billions of years old between the days of creation, but on day three plants were created and on day four the sun, moon and earth excuse me, the sun, moon and stars were created, and on day four the sun, moon and stars were created. So the billions of years doesn't make sense in that context, because how would the planet survive without the sun? So the important thing is to remember is, whenever you're responding in situations like this is to respond in a position of love and not aggression.
Speaker 1:How did your science teacher respond?
Speaker 3:She was a little taken aback and she said that I was asking her two personal questions.
Speaker 1:Oh, interesting.
Speaker 2:That's a really interesting response, frankly.
Speaker 1:To take creation personally.
Speaker 2:I didn't think that common core science education is personal.
Speaker 1:What was that Landon?
Speaker 3:I didn't think that it was a very personal question. Anyone who knows me knows that I ask questions on everything very personal question.
Speaker 1:Anyone who knows me knows that I ask questions on everything.
Speaker 4:Sarah, tell us about a time you had to stand up for something you believe. So I think my wake-up moment for our society was during 2020, towards the end of it. So this is after COVID broke and our local community had dealt with it and, going into the fall semester, most everyone in our community really did think we had a good chance of going back to school. And eventually our school board decided that they were shutting down schools again, even though a lot of schools in our nation stayed open. And I just saw the looks on my friends' faces, I saw my siblings' faces, my own personal emotions on it, and something just didn't sit right with me. I looked around the community and at our circumstances and I did not think it was right that we were closing school. So I started to look into the facts of it and I started looking at the COVID numbers.
Speaker 4:You know, I started looking into what other districts were doing and the actions of our school board just did not make sense.
Speaker 4:Know, I started looking into what other districts were doing and the actions of our school board just did not make sense, and so I started to ask questions.
Speaker 4:I asked them questions, I asked the superintendent questions and I started calling them out when they were making decisions that were not in the well being of the students that they were entrusted in. And as I continued down that path, I unfortunately came to a lot of really just sad kind of conclusions about the people who are running our local government and the corruption really that is in it, and I saw how youth, how our lives, our mental health, our well-being, our futures were being used as a political token. And that was kind of the first moment when I stood up and I said this is not right. What did you do? Well, at first it started with a lot of research and then eventually I went and I started testifying every other week to their school board about the impact that their actions were having on students. And then from there, after I realized that the school board truly just didn't care about what they were doing to the student body, I went to our local assembly, which is our legislative branch, and I found a similar end there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we all saw that play out here in Anchorage but you did a great job and taking on all of the people who enforce mask mandates and shut down our schools and our small businesses and everything across Anchorage absolutely that pushback from somebody who was in high school reverberated through the entire state. You got statewide media coverage for the stand that you took and it's still. The echoes of that remnant still exist today and I think are having an effect even in the elections of 2024. So you did a great job with the stand that you took. Let me transition over to Reagan. Reagan, can you tell us a story about a time you had to take a stand in today's modern culture?
Speaker 5:Yeah, so back in 2021, I had a podcast called let's Talk Christianity where I talked about very controversial topics, and one specifically was abortion, and I talked about how that was wrong through the lens of Christianity and especially through science as well. I interviewed an obstetrician for it. I did some research with some pastors about how biblically that was wrong and some other statistics, and also answering some common questions or, I guess, gotcha points that pro-abortion people have. But I got a lot of backlash for that. I had people emailing me saying they wish I'd die, saying that they want my whole family to die.
Speaker 5:During Halloween, a bunch of people dressed up as me and went around surrounding neighborhoods talking about how horrible of a person I was, going around to my community and slandering my name. I lost most of my friends because of that. So it it definitely was not a great time, but I definitely learned who who really were my friends and who were not, and it was sad in the moment, but I'm so proud that I stood up for what you know what I believe in and you know what is truth and what is right and just.
Speaker 1:Wow. So how did you handle that? How did you come through that and like, persevere onto the other side to be healthy, happy and whole?
Speaker 5:I mean just knowing that I'm doing what the Lord wants me to do and I'm operating through him and with him, and I'm walking with him and that's, you know, the only person that I, you know, want to please. That is the person that you know I want to do his willing for want to please. That is the person that you know I want to do his willing for. You know, my, my thoughts are aligned according to his will. So that is something that's very important to me and, while it's really sad in the moment you know to lose, you know, friends, what's important to me. You know bits and pieces of my community. I put my faith in the Lord and I trust in him that you know I will have a new community that's for me and, you know, for my faith, and that they're yoked with me. So that's, that is really what helps me.
Speaker 1:That's good. How about you?
Speaker 2:A stand that I've taken.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean after interviewing Mr Prager on this podcast, one of the things I started to do was just put all of our content out there for all of my peers to see which is not our normal audience.
Speaker 2:Demographic no, not at all. Not at all. And it's definitely increased tensions with a lot of people and has made jobs that I've been working on, things I've had to do harder, but I also know I don't I don't go and put out all of our content. I go and I put out the things that I'm like these are the things people need to see, these are the things people need to hear. This is, these are the points that if I were in a conversation with them, I would make myself and things that I would want them to hear.
Speaker 2:So just being bold with what I believe and not backing down on any frontier, I would say If you can't stand up for little small things, if you can't stand up to a keyboard warrior, you're not going to stand up to a Goliath.
Speaker 1:That's good, I like that. Well, this is Stand with Kelly and Nikki Chewbacca, my host today. My co-host is Josiah Chewbacca. We've got our youth panel with us. Stay with us onto the other side of the break and, while on break, make sure to hit subscribe at standshoworg. We'd be happy to have you as one of our fantastic standouts. We'll be right back, stand by.
